Parents' Guide to Buena Vista Social Club: Adios

This touching sequel may not be as breathtakingly original as Wenders' original documentary, but it's still a worthy follow up that revisits the beloved musicians. Walker uses some of the footage from the original Buena Vista Social Club as well as new, original interviews and content to show how the BVSC musicians fared after the unexpected commercial and critical success of both the album and the first film. It offers compelling behind-the-scenes information about these elderly Cuban musicians, who were utterly surprised to experience the international fanfare they received. Although slightly longer than necessary, Buena Vista Social Club: Adios takes its title seriously; not only is it the name of the group's farewell tour, but it's a literal goodbye and tribute to the several members who've died since the 1999 film.

The historical footage of how the mostly black musicians were impacted by Cuba's institutional racism and the Cuban revolution is both informative and heartbreaking. Then the movie fast forwards to focus on the 70- to 90-something-old musicians, who are pleasantly surprised by becoming so well known outside of their Caribbean island at a time in their lives when they thought they were basically limited to fellow Cuban fans -- or, in the case of Ibrahim, done with music altogether. The new movie tugs on viewers' heartstrings with the details of the musicians' final years and performances. But it feels appropriate to see how Compay, Ibrahim, and pianist Ruben Gonzalez were able to perform until the very end, fulfilling what Compay calls poet Jose Marti's tenets of an accomplished life: planting a seed, having a child, and creating/writing something that will outlast death.